Busy, Busy, Busy

We have finally confirmed our script for the collaborative project!!!! I have been busy sorting out heaps of things this week. First of all, my production team and I cleaned the greenscreen that we will be using as there were marks left on it from last year. It looks beautifully clean now and you can not even tell that they were there and where we cleaned it. It did not take long at all either - just a danp sponge and some wiping and boom it was done!

Sarah and Iris cleaning the greenscreen

Selfie with Sarah, Iris and the greenscreen

So, I have sorted out the schedule a little bit, moving deadlines and adding more things that need done. The schedule is a gantt chart that I made using Ganttology. It is a free online gantt chart maker, that can be shared to other people to look at, so they know what's going on and what is due when. I have also completed the budget but I am sending it to my tutors to get their approval and see if anything needs changed. Hopefully, the budget is good enough to get our funding.

There have been meetings that have been had about script, storyboards, concept art, behind the scenes, camera/lighting and vfx/animation. This week coming is full on and we have a million things to get done! I have to open a bank account, have to do meetings with the heads of departments, then the full team not to mention individual meetings when people have issues for me to solve. I also have a location scout to go out on (which is a little bit fun, I guess?!), and a PledgeMe campaign to work on urgently. To be fair there are probably heaps more things that I have forgotten to add to this list but as I get further on in the project, those things will come back to me! Getting excited now! SO STOKED ABOUT THIS PROJECT & I RECKON WE GOT THIS!!!!!

STOKED AS!!!!!

First Aid Assessment Results

I had my final assessment for first aid and I can safely say..... I PASSED! I will be the proud owner of a first aid certificate as soon as it arrives. The last module we learned about was broken bones and strains which I have had plenty of experience with as my daughter is accident prone and has had many broken bones before! We also learned about hypothermia and what to do if somebody is suffering from it.

I have enjoyed gaining this knowledge that could potentially help save somebody's life but in saying that I am glad that I have succesfully completed the assessment and do not need to return to do those first aid classes, mainly because it was a long class (all afternoon every Tuesday) in a horribly stuffy room. 

This week, I also completed my internship proposal which outlined what I intend on doing for my remaining internship hours. It was kind of strange writing a proposal when I have already completed so much of my internship. I would really like to complete my remainig hours on the Human Traces feature shoot later on in the year. This is because I want to be able to be here while I produce the big collaborative project and because I would love to work with the Human Traces team again. They are from New Zealand, professional and just amazing to work with - they are more or less like one huge family. Well, fingers crossed that I will be able to complete it with them and lets hope I won't need to use my new first aid skills!

Lemon Doctor

High Key, Low Key & Three Point Lighting

Lighting has been the subject in cinematography class this week. Lighting can affect the tone, mood and style of any film. It is an important part of cinematography and film in general. We have been learning the difference between high and low key lighting and have been learning about three point lighting as well.

High key lighting has the following attributes:

- bright

- lack of shadows

- lighting ratios are small, reduced

- lack of contrast

Grandma's Boy - Example of High Key Lighting

High key lighting is generally used in such genres as comedy and musical. It purposely has the shadows reduced and this means that there is a lack in contrast.

Low key lighting has the following attributes:

- lots of shadows and contrast

- lighting ratios are large

- darkness, highlights usually pick up the form of the actors

- chiaroscuro - Italian word that means the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrast affecting a whole composition

Harry Potter - Example of Low Key Lighting

Low key lighting is the complete opposite of high key lighting and used for dramatic effect. Films such as Harry Potter and The Godfather use low key lighting.

Three point lighting consists of exactly that - three lights! The three lights found in a three point lighting system are:

- Key light - This is the primary light source

- Back light - This is also known as the 'rim light'. This light provides seperation of the subject from the background

- Fill light - This light fills in the shadows on the face (person) or subject, preventing harsh shadows

The three point lighting system is a simple and most commonly used lighting system to light sets. It is favourable for doing interviews. Also, a kicker light can sometimes be used as well - this light provides definition to background elements but is not a part of three point lighting.

In class, we did experiments using some lights. We set up three different lights and turned off every other light source. We turned each light on, one at a time and filmed the same subject. The lights we used were a pro light, rifa light, rifa light with a soft box on and a fren-l light. I started my experiments using the rifa light with the soft box on it and set the aperture and started filming. Once I was done with this light, I turned off that light and turned on the next one. I did not change the aperture once I had set it. The only things that changed were the different lights I was using. I ended up setting the aperture with the wrong light to start off with and so the experiment did not happen to work out how it was meant to but it still showed the light differences when I switched on a different light. I have never felt that lighting has been one of my strong points (as an animator) but I think with some more research and learning, I may just get there!

His Worship, Mayor Tim Shadbolt

Well, screenwriting this week took an interesting turn with a visit from Invercargill's Mayor, Tim Shadbolt about a feature film. Initially, Mr. Shadbolt had the idea of making the first New Zealand and China collaborative feature film. Our tutor pitched Mr. Shadbolt's ideas of what he wanted and to me it sounded like what he wanted was a tourist promotional video of Southland. Mr. Shadbolt presented us with a different proposal during his visit.

Le Quesnoy ex-mayoral residence

Le Quesnoy (Lay Keen-wah) is a small town in France that has a special connection to New Zealand. During World War 1, the New Zealand army crept into Le Quesnoy and liberated the town without civilian casualty. They did this by climbing up ladders top the town, in the middle of the night with pistols and shooting every enemy soldier while they slept. Le Quesnoy are trying to sell their mayoral residence which is three floors tall and is a very grand looking house. This residence has recently been offered to the New Zealand government to be purchased but the government have turned down the offer to buy it.

So..... good old Tim wants to purchase the residence because he feels that the battle that was fought by the New Zealand army at Le Quesnoy is an important piece of New Zealand's history. This all comes back to the idea of a feature film. Mr. Shadbolt thinks that if he made a film as well as some promotional videos, that he may be able to use these to try and get people interested in helping to put money towards purchasing the Le Quesnoy mayoral house to turn into a war memorial and hotel.

First of all, we found out what the imperatives were for the film - these were things that the film had to have. The imperatives were:

1. Promote Southland filmmaking
2. Showcase Southland - Tourism
3. Anzac Heritage (Western Front WW1)
4. Chinese interests

Somehow, we had to try and formulate a story idea that included all four of these imperatives. Mr. Shadbolt told us a story about Rewi Alley, who was a soldier in World War 1 and resided in Southland on a farm at Castlerock, near Dipton. Rewi fought in World War 1 and was awarded a bravery medal after being shot through the hips. After the war, he moved to China and became somewhat famous over there. Once he moved to China, he adopted a couple of sons and bought them up as his own. It is unclear whether or not he fought in Le Quesnoy but he has living relatives in Canterbury that may have his war records which would tell us if he fought in Le Quesnoy or not.

Anyway, there are a few angles and ideas for a story that we could possibly go with for this film and they are:

1. The story of Le Quesnoy
2. The story of Rewi Alley
3. Historical/Period drama
4. Contemporary drama with flashbacks

The story ideas that were generated from all of these ideas and imperatives are as follows:

- Rewi's two children (China?), bookend device - Relatives visit France
                                                                             - Flashback to historical drama
- SIT Chinese student researching Rewi - Researching around Southland
                                                                             - Link to flashback of Rewi's life
- Rewi's grandchildren come to Invercargill to reconnect with his past - Links to French by boy/girl romance

We just need to figure out which story would be the best choice for this particular project and hopefully this week in screenwriting class, we get the opportunity to explore these ideas further. All things considered, I think that this could be an interesting process and project. I enjoyed the new things that I have learned as I enjoy learning new things about history and especially New Zealand history. I look forward to seeing where all of this goes!

Beat Sheets & More

Caution: Writer at Work

There is a whole process to writing a script to finished quality, all formatted correctly with a clear, refined (hopefully) story. This week, our class had a go at writing a beat sheet and a step outline as well as discussing a script treatment and outline/synopsis. I will start off by giving a description of each of theses steps.

Beat Sheet - Breakdown of major plot points

                   - Significant narrative plot points

                   - (Generally) First step in script development

                   - Repository for your raw creative ideas

                   - Rough but coherent

                   - Working document that is only seen by the writer or writers for personal use

Step Outline - Still a working document for personal use
                      - Fleshed out plot ideas into coherent prose
                      - Each paragrah is its own scene

Treatment - Formatted
                  - 12pt Courier, Arial or Times New Roman font
                  - Basic layout conventions
                  - Indented beginnings of paragraphs
                  - Coherent prose
                  - Descriptive evocative language
                  - Treat this like it is a sales project
                  - 20-50 pages (Feature film)

Synopsis/Outline - Basic bare bones
                             - Story coverage
                             - 5-15 pages (Feature film)

Scripts are generally written using all of these steps, in the same order that they are written above. A beat sheet is a list of bullet points that happen in each act but describe each significant part of the film. A step outline is a more fleshed out version of the beat sheet. John Truby and Blake Snyder
(Save The Cat) have a slightly different view about how a script should be created.

The Anatomy of Story - John Truby

John Truby believes that there are 22 steps or building blocks to write a succesful script. Truby takes inspiration from Joseph Campbell and combines Campbell's mythic story structure (used for films such as Star Wars) with some original expansion to create his 22 building blocks. This means that the overall structure follows a three act format. Here are the 22 steps:

ACT 1
- Self realisation, need, desire
- Ghost and context
- Problem/Need
- Inciting Incident
- Overall desire (start low)
- Ally/Allies
- Opponent/Mystery
- Opponent/Ally
- First reversal and decision: Changed desire and motive

ACT 2
- Plan
- Opponent's plan and first counter attack
- Drive
- Attack by ally
- Apparent defeat
- Second reversal and decision: Obsessive drive, changed desire and motive
- Audience revelation about opponent/ally
- Third reversal and decision

ACT 3
- Gate, gauntlet, visit to death

- Battle

- Self revelation, thematic revelation

- Moral decision

- New equilibrium

These 22 building blocks can be cut down into seven steps. Truby states that these seven steps are characteristics and all stories in their growth and development, from beginnging to end have these. The seven steps are as follows:

1. Weakness and need - A hero with a weakness and a need

2. Desire - The foundation of the story that helps drive the hero (Desire/want is not the same as a need) 

3. Opponent - This is often the antagonist and this character must go against the protagonist by wanting the same thing

4. Plan - Plan of action

5. Battle - The boiling point and crisis

6. Self revelation - The hero realises what he wanted was not what he needed (Remember that desire/want is different to need)

7. New equilibrium - The world changes for the character because of the new knowledge gained

Truby's building blocks and seven step ideas are based around the character and the decisions and changes that they make along their journey. These decisions and changes influence the way that the journey/story progresses.

Save The Cat - Blake Snyder

Blake Snyder's book called "Save The Cat" is about creating a formula for writing a feature script. Snyder has broken up the three act script into a beat sheet of 15 different beats. He also defines how many pages of script should be committed to each step/beat, based on a 110 page script. The steps/beats are as follows and the page count is the number in brackets:

1. Opening Image (1): The first thing you see that sets tone, style and mood

2. Theme Stated (5): A character other than the hero/protagonist makes a statement that describes the theme. This is known as thematic premise 

3. Set-Up (1-10): All characters in the main story should be introduced and the hero's wants and needs should be stated

4. Catalyst (12): A life changing event that forces the character to act outside of their comfort zone to fix the balance in their life and restore order

5. Debate (12-25): At this point the character either has a choice or no choice
(after the life changing event). This part of the script should show how daunting the tasks ahead are for the character by having them struggle with their decision or hesitate to act on their decision

6. Act Two Plot Point (25): Major changes happen on all levels of the story as the world changes from ordinary into adventure. The very middle or heart of the change is the character's decision to act

7. B Story (30): The B story is never entirely clear but Blake Snyder says that it is the love story. The characters in B story do not always appear in the first act and Snyder does not say what the B story does or is but he does say that it does a lot

8. Fun and Games (30-55): This part of the story is lighter in tone than before because all the intense work of introducing characters and the set up is finished. 

9. Midpoint (55): This can either be a high peak (victory) or a low peak (defeat) for the character but either way it will be false and it is time to get back to the story - no more fun and games

10. Bad Guys Close In (55-75): Depends on the outcome of the last step - if it was a victory for the character then the bad guys regroup and if it was a defeat for the character, the bad guys consolidate and prepare for the final assault

11. All Is Lost (75): The hero is at wits end and is often faced with death at this stage

12. Dark Night of the Soul (75-85): This is expansion of the hero's dilemma and it asks a few different questions such as will the hero break? Will the hero accept the situation? How will the hero react? And also is there a solution?

13. Act Three Plot Point (85): A solution for both the main story and B story that needs to be implemented

14. Finale (85-110): All lessons learned are applied and the bad guys are defeated in ascending order. The hero is triumphant

15. Final Image (110): The closing image is the last thing you see. This hould be the opposite of the opening image so that it shows the changes that have happened

Blake Snyder's approach is different to Truby's as Snyder's ideas seem to be more about the theme or lessons that are forced onto the character and must happen. The ideas behind a how a story should progress seem to have little to do with the character's own journey but more about the things that are forced upon the character (this includes the events that "must" happen).

I think both of these ideas could be useful in writing my own scripts however, I feel that Snyder's Save The Cat ideas are more telling you what must happen at a specific point rather than just being guidelines. I can see how many films fit into these steps but I somewhat wonder if some films have been forced into fitting into these steps? 

Rough Script Confirmed - Casting Call Time

We now have a couple of rough script ideas for our big project. By the end of next week we should have the final script and plan on having character biographies and some concept art to go with it. I am starting to get really excited about this project and we have started to get very, very busy.

Casting Call Poster 2015

Today and tomorrow, we are holding a mass casting call (auditions) for people of all ages and all skill levels. The people that come along to this casting call will have their details, photos and footage (of their audition) uploaded to a database for all digital media students to be able to use to find actors and actresses for film projects and voice actors for animations. The database will keep all the auditionees details confidential from the general public and will only be accessible by using a log in and password.

So far, there has been some really talented people come through the casting call. They have been all ages and skill levels with many different cool and wonderful talents. Our first auditionee today, was an amazing 11 year old girl who had the most amazing singing voice! 

Director

We plan on holding auditions next weekend, specifically for our project. Any talent that our director (Dan DeLaet) decides will fit the roles in our script will be called back and invited to our special auditions. I am looking forward to seeing what talent Southland will bring us tomorrow and I am hoping we may find some talent that will fit the roles of the characters in our big project script.

Assessment Time

In first aid, the time has finally come for the class to be assessed for our certificates. We spent our last class learning about responsiveness, asthma, convulsions, diabetes, poisons, how to apply bandages and slings to victims and learned about strokes and concussion.

Convulsion Management

The two main things that interested me the most were how to apply bandages and slings and about convulsions. My brother suffers from convulsions/seizures and it's scary when it happens. It was interesting to see what different kinds of convulsions there are and how they are meant to be managed. I was interested in how to apply bandages and slings as well because my daughter is constantly injuring herself while playing sport or just generally playing with her friends. This skill could come in handy for the next time she hurts herself (which will hopefully be a long time away).

Our next class on Tuesday, we will be learning our final unit on bone breaks and fractures as well as our final assessment where in groups we will role play a situation where first aid is required.  We will be placed in scenarios where all of the skills that we have learned over the past four weeks are tested to make sure that we are competent. I am hoping that I have practiced and studied enough to pass this assessment and by the end of Tuesday next week, I will hopefully be the proud new owner of a first aid certificate.